Got a "New" Camera

Somebody gave me a late 80s Pentax yesterday, barley used. Spent a few hours with it this morning, cleaning the body and the lens glass, bought a new battery and fired up the light meter, and I plan to load it and shoot some pics tomorrow.

It's the K1000 model, looks like this:

It needs a lens cap (according to Wikipedia the battery will drain if no cap, leaves metering 'on'); other than that the only obvious issues are noticeable shutter afterbounces on the slower speeds. We'll see how it looks after a roll goes through.

It did not have a Pentax lens, unfortunately; it came with a Ricoh XR (50mm f2):

Hope it's the original Japanese version, and not the crappy Chinese one. I have a K1000 that's of the original Japanese species, it definitely is a tank! If your new cam is really heavy, it's probably the real deal. Too bad about the lens. You could maybe find one in a camera shop for fairly cheap?

I'd maybe look for a better lens, if the shutter is ok. Dunno if I would spend money to fix it if that's busted. This one is a Hong Kong made example, in between the Japanese and Chinese ones. It's pretty light, even with the lens.

Good choice. I have one as well and like it a lot. And you're right that it'll eat itself without a lens cap, but you can always take the battery out when it isn't in use, or just have an extra kicking around.

Just a ?ion for the serious photogs... how much longer do you think 'real' film will be around?

My father who died recently left a really nice (can't remember the brand offhand) 35mm camera behind with the zoom lenses. My mother has asked me if she should hold it for my 9 year old son (I use a digital)... I told her to hang onto it for the short-term.

The currently popular formats might start getting genuinely expensive and hard to find in another decade (of course, some films are that way now, including Kodachrome and Polaroid). There's little if any remaining resolution advantage of film over digital since the best of both formats tend to be at or near the limits of the lenses, but the color rendition and dynamic range of film still in many cases beat digital, and the grain is more pleasant, in my opinion.

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Just a ?ion for the serious photogs... how much longer do you think 'real' film will be around?

At least until my freezer is empty. But seriously, as mentioned, Kodachrome and Polaroid are more or less gone now (though they were declining even before digital). E-6 slide films will be around for a while yet, but are endangered--it's getting harder to find goot places to get it processed, and C-41 color negative films keep getting better (try the new Ektar 100!). C-41 will be around as long as the film industry keeps using it. B&W, which has been a niche product for decades, will remain after the others are gone, because it's easy to process yourself, and can be stockpiled for a long time.

My father who died recently left a really nice (can't remember the brand offhand) 35mm camera behind with the zoom lenses. My mother has asked me if she should hold it for my 9 year old son (I use a digital)... I told her to hang onto it for the short-term.

If you think the kid will be really interested in using it, and can be reasonably responsible with it, let him have it now. That's about the age I got my first 35mm camera, though my dad didn't let me use his nice Nikon until I was 13 (which I still have and use, 30-something years later).

Awesome! Great camera that will give many more years of good service! Last year I picked up an old Spotmatic from the original owner - who got it when he was over in Korea while with the Navy. Fun to use, takes fantastic photos.

May want to snag a M42->K-mount adapter to open up the M42 lens world for that body as well. Lots of great old glass out there to be had for cheap.

The shutter was making some truly funky noises while loaded with film that weren't there when it was empty.

That's funny--I have a K1000 that I rescued from my sister's closet a while back that makes a noise like that when the shutter is triggered, but I haven't actually run any film through it yet! Since I have two vintage Nikons and a Speed Graphic, I just haven't gotten around to it. But whatever is making that noise doesn't seem to affect the shutter and mirror operation, so I think you'll be okay.

Looks like the noise is not affecting anything; having said that the results were a bit "Meh" imo - Maybe it's just the mediocre lens? I did like shooting with the camera, though. any thoughts are welcome....

the sun hid just as I got outside, alas (Fuji Reala 100):

same shot, with a mid 70s Cosina, 50mm lens (Ektar 100):

Here is another, same time and place, but shot on Velvia (same distance, but with a longer focal length Nikon lens, @f2; just including to compare colors):